Like other institutions of higher education, Ivy Tech Community College
aspires to contribute to the economic and social development of the state of
Indiana; but its treatment of its faculty does not look like that of
colleges and universities in this and other states. Ivy Tech's recent
controversial treatment of Becky Meadows Wilson reveals how its peculiar
faculty policies imperil the quality of the education it offers its
students.

As President of Indiana's American Association of University Professors,
I'm proud to say that the AAUP was the first educational organization in
Indiana to support Ivy Tech's expansion into a full-fledged community
college. AAUP members have from its inception chaired the State Transfer and
Articulation Committee, the organization that works to increase the number
of Ivy Tech courses that transfer to other colleges and universities. It's
thus with some regret that I must publicly observe that Ivy Tech's faculty
policies fail to live up to professional best practices, and the school's
shameful treatment of Becky Meadows Wilson illustrates how this failure
threatens to undermine its educational mission.

Prof. Meadows Wilson was a part-time faculty member at Ivy Tech Community
College at Madison. At Ivy Tech statewide only 25% of all faculty members
are full-time and even they are hired on yearly contracts, which means they
have no assurance they will be brought back the following year. The rest are
part-timers, hired on a course-by-course basis at approximately $1200 for a
three-hour course. When Prof. Meadows Wilson got sick, she was docked for
every class hour she missed. She would often be forced to choose between
staying home sick and losing money, or else risking her own health, and that
of her students.

According to accounts in the Louisville Courier-Journal and Inside Higher
Education, when Prof. Meadows Wilson became a full-time faculty member at
the Madison campus and President of the Faculty Senate last year, she
decided to help the part-timers. A country music singer recording under the
name Foxx for Stardust Records, she decided to hold a benefit concert to
build up a medical emergency fund for part-time faculty at Madison. The
money would be donated to the Ivy Tech Foundation.

At first, Ivy Tech officials were supportive. Then, with plans for the
concert underway, Ivy Tech administrators, apparently nervous about how the
publicity might affect their reputation, insisted that the college’s name be
removed from the tickets being sold. But Ivy Tech still wasn't satisfied
with tickets that merely said "college relief fund." So, Professor Meadows
Wilson had that phrase blacked out on the tickets.

Nonetheless, a few days later, she received a formal "cease and desist"
order from the college. When Prof. Meadows Wilson contested the order, she
received a letter stating that her contract for the coming academic year
would not be renewed. Prof. Meadows Wilson eventually filed a grievance. She
was supported by the national and state bodies of the American Association
of University Professors, as well as the state and national chapters of the
American Philosophical Association, all of whom defend the century-old
standard of “academic freedom.”

Academic freedom is not just “free speech.” It is the lifeblood of higher
education and the foundation of a community of scholars and teachers because
it allows them to investigate topics and publish views that are oftentimes
controversial, but are necessary to the advancement of knowledge. Because
faculty share in the governance of the institutions of higher education,
academic freedom is also necessary to protect faculty’s freedom of speech
outside the classroom.

As a general rule, academic freedom requires tenure for the core faculty
of a university or college, and such is the norm in American higher
education, including almost all community colleges. As the Becky Meadows
Wilson case indicates, academic freedom is non-existent throughout that
institution. Many Ivy Tech faculty members have expressed great fear of
publicly airing any controversial views.

Faculty members are afraid even to hold a meeting of the AAUP—the major
professional association of faculty in this country—on campus.AAUP has long
advocated the full professionalization of Ivy Tech’s faculty, which would
involve the possibility of tenure for full-time faculty, multi-year
contracts for senior part-time faculty; and establishment of a faculty
senate that would be responsible for curriculum, rigorous faculty review
procedures, and shared governance. These conditions, currently in place at
all other higher education institutions throughout the state, would lift
standards of student accomplishment, provide a common standard against which
educational attainment can be measured, and assure faculty at transfer
institutions that Ivy Tech conforms to “best practices.”

AAUP’s recommendations are in accord with two important studies of
Indiana’s community colleges. One, commissioned by the Indiana Commission
for Higher Education in 2001, found that Ivy Tech lagged behind 14 peer
institutions in offering professional protections for its faculty. Most
recently, the 2004 Report of the Subcommittee on Higher Education to the
Indiana Government Efficiency Commission gave our community college system
grades of “D” in providing its students with general education, transfer
preparation, community service, and serving as a delivery site for other
providers. The report stated that there was “an immediate need in bolstering
[Ivy Tech’s] full-time faculty in the general education area.”

Becky Meadows Wilson has settled her grievance with Ivy Tech and moved
on. But, the rest of that institution's faculty still suffers from less than
professional working conditions; and part-time faculty members still lack
health care.

It is AAUP’s hope that Ivy Tech will professionalize the standards by
which it treats its faculty. Doing so will make it easier for four-year
institutions in the state to give transfer credits to Ivy Tech students;
will improve Ivy Tech’s ability to attract and retain high quality faculty;
will enhance Ivy Tech’s reputation; and enable Ivy Tech to better contribute
to the economic and social development of our state.

_____________________________

Richard Schneirov is president of the Indiana State Conference of the
American Association of University Professors and a member of the national
AAUP's Committee on Contingent Faculty and the Profession.